Volunteering and Psychological Well-Being Among Young-Old Adults: How Much Is Too Much?
The GerontologistPublished 1 February 2008Open access
Tim D. Windsor, Kaarin J. Anstey, Bryan Rodgers
Citations240
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.82
SNIP1.88
Generate an AI Snapshot to get a quick, structured summary of this paper.
Study Snapshot
ObjectiveStudy objective
MethodsResearch methodology
PopulationPopulation studied
Sample sizeSample sizes
OutcomesStudy outcomes here
ResultsStudy results comes here
LimitationsResearch study limitations comes here
A concise AI-generated summary of the paper will appear here once you click Generate AI Snapshot.
TL;DR
The results point toward optimal frequency of engagement in volunteer activity for psychological well-being as being bounded by upper and lower levels, outside of which benefits to well- being diminish.
Abstract
The results point toward optimal frequency of engagement in volunteer activity for psychological well-being as being bounded by upper and lower levels, outside of which benefits to well-being diminish.
Keywords
PsychologySocial Sciences
Using multivariate statistics
77,462 Citations1983Barbara G. Tabachnick, Linda S. Fidell
In this Section: 1. Multivariate Statistics: Why? and 2. A Guide to Statistical Techniques: Using the Book Research Questions and Associated Techniques.
Journal of Personality and Social PsychologyDevelopment and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales.
31,665 Citations1988David Watson, Lee A. Clark +1 more
Psychology Press eBooksApplied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences
20,853 Citations2014Patricia Cohen, Patricia Cohen +2 more
Social indicators research seriesReview of the Satisfaction With Life Scale
3,459 Citations2009William Pavot, Ed Diener
British Journal of Clinical PsychologyThe Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS): Construct validity, measurement properties and normative data in a large non‐clinical sample
2,971 Citations2004John R. Crawford, Julie D. Henry
The PANAS is a reliable and valid measure of the constructs it was intended to assess, although the hypothesis of complete independence between PA and NA must be rejected and the utility of this measure is enhanced by the provision of large-scale normative data.
ScienceThe Influence of a Sense of Time on Human Development
2,491 Citations2006Laura L. Carstensen
Socioemotional selectivity theory maintains that constraints on time horizons shift motivational priorities in such a way that the regulation of emotional states becomes more important than other types of goals.
Social Science & MedicineVolunteering and depression: the role of psychological and social resources in different age groups
952 Citations2002Marc A. Musick, John F. Wilson
Analysis of three waves of data from the Americans' Changing Lives data set reveals that volunteering does lower depression levels for those over 65, while prolonged exposure to volunteering benefits both populations.
The Journals of Gerontology Series BDifferential Benefits of Volunteering Across the Life Course
754 Citations2000Marieke Van Willigen
It is found that older volunteers experienced greater increases in life satisfaction over time as a result of their volunteer hours than did younger adult volunteers, especially at high rates of volunteering.
International Journal of Behavioral MedicineAltruism, happiness, and health: it’s good to be good
745 Citations2005Stephen G. Post
It is concluded that a strong correlation exists between the well-being, happiness, health, and longevity of people who are emotionally and behaviorally compassionate, so long as they are not overwhelmed by helping tasks.
The Journals of Gerontology Series BFormal Volunteering as a Protective Factor for Older Adults' Psychological Well-Being
598 Citations2004Emily A. Greenfield, Nadine F. Marks
Results demonstrate that being a formal volunteer can protect older adults with a greater number of major role-identity absences from decreased levels of purpose in life and suggest that associations between volunteering and psychological well-being might be contingent upon the volunteer's role-Identity status and the dimension of psychologicalWell-being examined.
The Journals of Gerontology Series BVolunteering and Mortality Among Older Adults: Findings From a National Sample
588 Citations1999Marc A. Musick, A. Regula Herzog +1 more
Volunteering has a protective effect on mortality among those who volunteered for one organization or for forty hours or less over the past year, and the protective effects of volunteering are strongest for respondents who report low levels of informal social interaction and who do not live alone.
Psychosomatic MedicineAltruistic Social Interest Behaviors Are Associated With Better Mental Health
404 Citations2003Carolyn E. Schwartz, Janice Bell Meisenhelder +2 more
Helping others is associated with higher levels of mental health, above and beyond the benefits of receiving help and other known psychospiritual, stress, and demographic factors.
Journal of Health PsychologyVolunteerism and Mortality among the Community-dwelling Elderly
403 Citations1999Doug Oman, Carl E. Thoresen +1 more
Lower mortality rates for community service volunteers were only partly explained by health habits, physical functioning, religious attendance, and social support, while volunteering was slightly more protective for those with high religious involvement and perceived social support.
Journal of Health and Social BehaviorVolunteering and Depression in Later Life: Social Benefit or Selection Processes?
350 Citations2005Yun-Qing Li, Kenneth F. Ferraro
Three-wave data from the Americans' Changing Lives study reveal a beneficial effect of formal volunteering on depression, but not for informal helping, suggesting voluntarism as a means of compensation.
Journal of Health and Social BehaviorIndividual Consequences of Volunteer and Paid Work in Old Age: Health and Mortality
305 Citations2002Ming‐Ching Luoh, A. Regula Herzog
Investigation of the impacts of the productive social activities of volunteer and paid work on health among the oldest Americans suggests that performing more than 100 annual hours of volunteer work and of paid work have independent and significant protective effects against subsequent poor health and death.
The GerontologistCivic Engagement and Older Adults: A Critical Perspective
304 Citations2006Marty Martinson, Meredith Minkler
Social Indicators ResearchProductive Activities And Subjective Well-Being Among Older Adults: The Influence Of Number Of Activities And Time Commitment
294 Citations2005Lindsey A. Baker, Lawrence P. Cahalin +2 more
The International Journal of Aging and Human DevelopmentAge-Related Patterns in Social Networks among European Americans and African Americans: Implications for Socioemotional Selectivity across the Life Span
268 Citations2001Helene H. Fung, Laura L. Carstensen +1 more
This study tested the hypothesis that age is negatively associated with time left in life, the social networks of older people contain fewer peripheral social partners than those of their younger counterparts among African Americans and European Americans, two ethnic groups whose social structural resources differ.
Journal of Health PsychologyVolunteering is Associated with Delayed Mortality in Older People: Analysis of the Longitudinal Study of Aging
246 Citations2005Alex H. S. Harris, Carl E. Thoresen
Testing the hypothesis that frequent volunteering is associated with less mortality risk when the effects of socio-demographics, medical status, physical activity and social integration are controlled found that frequent volunteers had significantly reduced mortality compared to non-volunteers.
Social ForcesVolunteering in Middle and Later Life: Is Health a Benefit, Barrier or Both?
240 Citations2006Yuelin Li, Kenneth F. Ferraro
Psychological MedicineAge group differences in psychological distress: the role of psychosocial risk factors that vary with age
214 Citations2005Anthony F. Jorm, Tim D. Windsor +4 more
Depression, anxiety and psychological distress generally declined across the age range 20–64 years and this was not attributable to measurement bias, but other mechanisms that explain the lower level of distress in older age groups remain to be identified.
Feminist EconomicsTaking Its Toll: The Influence of Paid and Unpaid Work on Women's Well-Being
200 Citations2005Martha MacDonald, Shelley Phipps +1 more
The GerontologistVolunteerism by Elders: Past Trends and Future Prospects
144 Citations1993Susan M. Chambré
Psychology and AgingBeyond keeping active: Concomitants of being a volunteer in old-old age.
131 Citations2003Dov Shmotkin, Tzvia Blumstein +1 more
Findings suggest that the benefits of volunteering in late life are not reducible to those of other activities.
The Journals of Gerontology Series BVolunteerism and Socioemotional Selectivity in Later Life
123 Citations2004Jon Hendricks, Stephen J. Cutler
Logistic age patterns of slowly increasing then relatively stable volunteer activity suggest that socioemotional selectivity processes are operative in the realm of voluntary activities.
Research on AgingDifferences between Older Volunteers and Nonvolunteers
116 Citations2001Jeni Warburton, Deborah J. Terry +2 more
Annals of the New York Academy of SciencesAging, Emotion, and Evolution
115 Citations2003Laura L. Carstensen, Corinna E. Löckenhoff
It is suggested that evolutionary pressures did operate at older ages and that an evolutionary account is entirely consistent with the pattern of findings currently available in the psychological literature on aging.
The International Journal of Aging and Human DevelopmentFostering Social Ties Through A Volunteer Role: Implications For Older-Adults' Psychological Health
107 Citations2003Karen S. Rook, Dara H. Sorkin
The analyses revealed that the foster grandparents exhibited a significant increase in the number of new ties formed, but participation in the Foster Grandparent Program was not associated with the expected gains in emotional health.
AddictionNon‐linear relationships between cognitive function and alcohol consumption in young, middle‐aged and older adults: the PATH Through Life Project
62 Citations2005Bryan Rodgers, Tim D. Windsor +4 more
Abstainers have poorer cognitive function than light drinkers and further investigation is needed to determine what factors contribute to this.
The GerontologistThe Effects of Membership in Church-Related Associations and Labor Unions on Age Differences in Voluntary Association Affiliations
18 Citations2001Jon Hendricks, Stephen J. Cutler
The results reaffirm that age differences in voluntary association affiliations are due to age-based compositional differences and show that the pattern observed with controls is neither driven by membership in church-related "associations" nor altered when membership in labor unions is excluded.